Police Blotter in College Newspaper: Fair or Foul?
My favorite part of the Indiana Daily Student (IDS) is the police blotter. I have been a reader of this section of the newspaper since I was a freshman at
This link contains an article entitled "Bringing back the Blotter" by Mallory Simon. I realize it was written last semester but I feel it relates to employment law in the fact that our college actives directly relate to our ability to find jobs in future.
What are your thoughts on:
- The ability of college actives (arrests) following students into the "real world?"
- The fact that charges in the blotter may be dropped, meaning that a student's name may be dragged though the mud?
- The Indiana Daily Student's decision not to put the blotter online thus protected students who have been arrested by not allowing this information to become easily accessible to future employers?
I personally feel the blotter should continue to run in both print and online news papers. College students want to be treated as adults so they should act like adults. After everyone has left IU we will not be fortunate enough to have a paper that will not publish the names of the arrested. Why give a free pass because we're college students and irresponsible behavior is expected because we are college students?
*Note: I have not been arrested. I merely feel this is an interesting topic.
posted by Anonymous at
9:05 PM
2 Comments:
While I am also a member of the non-arrested crowd, I feel that it is the employer's decision as to how much weight they want to place upon college arrests. As an employer, I would not place much weight upon an underage drinking violation (perhaps because the vast majority of the student body is guilty of this). However, repeat offenses for drug use in the first two years of college may sit uncomfortably with me (the employer). A different employer, though, may have a different opinion on the drug-use since it has not been a problem for the individual for the last two years of college.
I am pretty indifferent to the issue of the IDS printing/posting the blotter. Ultimately, it makes very little difference since most employers, I believe, hire outside organizations to conduct background checks on professionals they plan to hire.
Another angle on this issue, though, is that seeing the arrest reports is a small way in which the activities of the IUPD (or whatever law enforcement organization does similar reporting in other publications) can be exposed to public light. So, while I don't mean to argue that the public shaming aspect of the practice is not there, other interests may also be implicated.
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